If so, you'll want to fasten your seat belt and get into the details below.

My clients are experiencing a lot of questions and confusion on this, so wanted to get the information out to you as I know it.

A QUICK REVIEW OF THE BASICS

To be sure we've got the basics of QuickBooks Enterprise Desktop subscriptions down, here is a quick recap:

QuickBooks Enterprise Desktop is ONLY offered on a subscription basis now (for those of you who still refuse to accept that, please understand that the old "buy once/use many years" model for Enterprise is dead. Has been since the fall of 2015, and there is no going back)

The subscription period is for 12 months

When you subscribed, you had the option to choose 12 monthly payments (monthly plan) or 1 annual payment (annual plan)

The list price of QuickBooks Enterprise Desktop 2018 was raised 10% for BOTH the monthly plan and annual plan options as of 10/1/2017. This is the first price increase on the subscription model since it was introduced in 2015. This pricing will apply to subscription renewals that come due in October 2017 or for new subscriptions that begin in October 2017.

Here is a recap of the monthly plan and annual plan prices that reflect the 10% price bump - these prices are through 10/31/2017:

On top of the 10% price increase noted above that kicked in for both the monthly and annual plans for QuickBooks Enterprise, an additional 20% price increase will kick in effective November 1, 2017 for the MONTHLY payment plan option. The annual payment pricing will stay the same as shown in the October table above - it does NOT change as of November 1, 2017.

This pricing will apply to subscription renewals that come due in November 2017 or for new subscriptions that begin in November 2017 where the MONTHLY payment option is chosen.

For those who want to pay for their QuickBooks Enterprise subscription on a monthly basis, it will cost 20% more (on top of the 10% across the board price increase that kicked in 10/1/2017) as of November 1, 2017.

During the call that Intuit had for resellers where all of this was hurriedly explained, there was some mumbling about this 20% increase being some type of "finance charge" to carry the cost of financing the payments on a monthly basis. Other than that, I have nothing to share with you as to the how and why of this increase.

Intuit has advised that due to a programming problem on their end, monthly plan subscribers that renew between 10/19/2017 and 11/4/2017 will still renew at last years prices. They have provided no guidance to indicate if this is going to stay as is or if a fix is going to be put in place. Maybe you'll get lucky and miss it for another year!

CHECK YOUR RENEWAL E-MAIL VERY CAREFULLY

Keep an eye on your mailbox for your renewal announcement. They are rolling out now.

Keep a sharp eye out on the price that is being shown on the renewal amount. Here is an example of what the renewal e-mail will look like:

Note that the value showing for the renewal amount is automatically going to show the list price of the renewal. It will NOT show any discounts that are tied into your account.

For example, all of my customers that are getting the 20% lifetime discount on QuickBooks Enterprise are NOT seeing the 20% discount reflected in their renewal notices. Intuit has assured us that the discounts, while not showing on this e-mail, will indeed be applied to the account appropriately.

I cannot explain to you why the e-mails are being sent out this way. I have not received any reply from Intuit as to why this is happening.

WHAT TO DO NOW?

I've shared with you what I know about this to date. If something changes, I'll be sure and update this post.

Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid the 10% increase that rolled out October 1, 2017.

However...

If you are on the monthly payment plan and want to avoid the 20% price increase on QuickBooks Enterprise 2018 that kicks in November 1, 2017, it is possible to convert your account to the annual payment option. Simply complete my order form for QuickBooks Enterprise, and I'll get it taken care of for you.

If your inclination is to start looking for alternatives to QuickBooks Enterprise, I can tell you that your options are exceptionally limited. More on that in the next post.

While attending the Accountex accounting show in Boston a few weeks ago, I spied a session on the agenda that was focused on simplifying wire transfers and global payments.

This topic is quite relevant for my consulting practice and likely for many of my clients too, so I made sure to catch the session to see what it was all about.

The folks from Veem did not disappoint...

DISRUPTING THE INTERNATIONAL PAYMENTS MODEL

The presentation by the Veem team was centered on this simple premise - "rethinking wire transfers and making the process easy and affordable".

As anyone involved in business to business wire transfers knows, the existing process is certainly not easy, nor affordable. And, it is not even close to being transparent.

Take a look at how the Veem approach to international payments works - a lot simpler, and far less hands touching things (click to enlarge):

As you can see, their process is eliminating the middleman from the international payment process. A wonderful idea!

Veem is currently positioned to send business to business funds to over 60 different countries (and expanding that list regularly) with no wire transfer fees. In addition, you can also receive payments via the Veem platform.

Veem gets paid by earning a small percentage on the foreign exchange rates that are involved in the transaction. I'll let them explain it to you via this example (click to enlarge the view):

BACKED BY SOPHISTICATED INVESTORS + 40,000 CUSTOMERS STRONG

The Veem platform is backed by a number of prominent inventors from around the globe, including:

Silicon Valley Bank

Fenbushi Capital

SBI Holdings

Digital Currency Group

and others...

Veem indicates that they are currently servicing over 40,000 customers - many of them small and mid-size businesses like yours.

In addition, according to their web site, Veem was founded by a world class team of industry veterans with over 100 years of combined experience in payments, payment processing and banking IT infrastructure management, who aim to change the financial payment system through innovation.

Veem has set up comprehensive pages of FAQ and helpful resources to help you better understand how their service works as well as the reasons why you should consider moving your international payments to them, and ditching your bank ASAP.

EXTRA BONUS...

Veem also offers connectivity to the Xero and QuickBooks Online accounting platforms (sorry, it does not connect to the QuickBooks Desktop platform as far as I know).

If there ever was something that needed disruption, it is the wire transfer process. I think back to my CFO days 20+ years ago, and all the hassles I had with that process. You never knew much about what was going on, other than that I was getting nicked by fees all along the way.

All I know is that if Veem existed back then, I'd have signed up in a flash!

I wish the Veem team great success as they tackle this challenge...

Are you using Veem today? I welcome your feedback on how their service has worked out for your business...